Referring now to FIG. 1, host devices 10, such as computers, personal digital assistants (PDA's) and/or network enabled devices and/or appliances, commonly include a network interface 12 for communicating with other hosts or link partners over a medium. The network interface 12 draws power from a power source associated with the host device 10.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the network interface 12 typically includes a host interface 14 that provides an interface to the host device 10. A MAC device/buffer 18 includes logic that bridges a physical layer (PHY) device 20 and the host interface 14. The PHY device 20 communicates with a wired or wireless medium 21. In some implementations, the host interface 14 is compatible with a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) and/or PCI-Express (PCI-E) protocols. A regulator module 22 may be provided that receives a first voltage level from the host device 10 and converts the first voltage level to a second voltage level for use in the network interface 12.
The power that is dissipated by the network interface 12 tends to cause undesirable heat generation. For portable host devices 10, the power consumption of the network interface 12 also tends to reduce battery life of the host device 10.